Academics from
Northumbria University, Newcastle, have developed public health messaging
materials with a difference to overcome communication challenges in Guatemala.
A research collaboration between
Northumbria’s Departments of Psychology and Arts and the Human RightsOffice of the Archbishop of Guatemala has seen the
development of a set of animated GIFs promoting Covid-19 preventive behaviours
in Guatemala.
Despite having the largest economy in
Central America, Guatemala endures widespread poverty and inequality, with some
of the worst health issues in the world. The country faces significant
challenges when it comes to public health messaging, due to an ethnically
diverse population and 25 official languages being spoken – Spanish, 22 Mayan
languages, Xinca, and Garifuna.
Originally conceived prior to the
Covid-19 pandemic, the collaborative project was supported by funding from
Northumbria University’s QR Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) grant. It aimed to address health
communication in relation to malnutrition and the transmission of infectious
and communicable diseases.
Following the onset of the pandemic, in
March 2020, the project was adapted in response to the urgent need to
communicate key Covid-19 public health messages to people in Guatemala.
Adopting a co-design approach,
Associate Professor Nicki O’Brien and Senior Lecturer Santosh Vijaykumar, both experts in health psychology, worked
with international award-winning animation director Ellie Land,
Senior Lecturer in Northumbria’s Arts Department. The team also partnered with London-based
freelance animator Lottie Kingslake, who has experience of life in Guatemala while
volunteering for a charity there.
In order to ensure the campaign materials
were culturally sensitive, relevant and engaging, the research team conducted
interviews with health professionals in Guatemala and evaluated their
testimonials. Alongside this, they reviewed the country’s existing Covid-19
visual health communication, to co-design animated GIFs as a ‘languageless’
form of communication that could be distributed through social media. As a
result, the team developed four evidence-based and culturally appropriate GIFs
to specifically target families and young people in rural and urban settings.
Associate Professor Dr Nicki O’Brien,
Chartered Health Psychologist and project lead on this research, said: “Effective
communication about Covid-19 that does not rely on language is essential in Guatemala
where there are 25 official languages. The idea for this project stemmed from my
experience of living in Guatemala and working for the Human Rights Office,
where I had seen first-hand the health challenges that the country faces. So, bringing
together my expertise in the science of behaviour change, the expertise of my health
communication and animation colleagues, and the expertise of the Human Rights
Office we co-produced four languageless, animated GIFs. These GIFS use visual
storytelling to communicate how to reduce Covid-19 transmission through key
preventive behaviours.”
The GIFs show Covid-19 preventive
behaviours, encouraging handwashing and physical distancing, illustrating the
importance of wearing a mask and demonstrating how to wear a mask correctly. The
Human Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala are using the GIFs on social
media and on Guatemala’s catholic television channel, which airs across the whole
country. The project team are also engaging with other organisations to spread
the GIFs and their vital public health messages further.
Luisa Fernanda Nicolau, Human
Rights Office of the Archbishop of Guatemala (ODHAG), said: “It was clear in
Guatemala that there wasn’t good awareness or promotion of mask wearing as an
effective way to reduce the transmission of Covid-19. Therefore, together with
Northumbria University in the UK, the ODHAG wanted to address this,
specifically focusing on urban and rural families, and the youth population.
“With support from animators, we have
developed some GIFs - we want the Guatemalan population to understand the
correct way to wear masks, whilst respecting their multiculturality and mother language
at the same time. We invite civil society organisations to reshare these GIFs
and protect Guatemala through correct usage of masks.”
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